Lemonade Mouth

TLC

Chaptered

Written by Lavender

So I'm taking a break from my current projects and I came out with this side-project. Hope you guys enjoy!

Not owning Lemonade Mouth. If I did, Rayella would be canon.

(^^)

Stella Yamada came from a very prestigious family.

Her father was an esteemed doctor, leading a team to find a cure for cancer and her mother worked with a company that made biodegradable products that were slowly taking over what most consumer goods were made of, while Stella's younger twin brothers; Andrew and Timothy were making their own toys out of practically anything they could get their hands on.

Being in a family of geniuses was a bit too much to bear for Stella sometimes. But as Stella's mother told her after the little incident with the security guards and a brief visit to a police holding cell, Stella Yamada, despite not being genius like the rest of her family, always made them proud.

Sadly, making them proud didn't warrant an increased allowance.

"Oh come on dad," Stella attempted again, leaning against the kitchen counter with a pout. "Just an extra couple of bucks…please?"

"Now Ella," her father answered sternly making his sixteen year old daughter slump. Every time he called her Ella, it always meant that it wasn't happening. Calling her Ella was like a huge luminous BEWARE sign; one that she heeded very little to when she was younger. Unfortunately after that incident mentioned previously, Mr. Yamada was upping his defences against his only daughter to keep her from getting into any more kind of trouble. He preferred if she just got detention, not a jail record.

"Dad please, it's only a new guitar! Think of it, as-as an early birthday present!"

"Then it looks like I'm covered for the next two years," he responded, taking a leisurely sip of his coffee as he continued his task of cooking breakfast, leaving his BEST DAD mug on the island counter.

"That isn't fair," Stella complained sourly. "The first guitar you bought me was four years ago, so that one hardly counts. The second one you got me was because my first one got lost during the move here and then two months later, Tim and Andy turned it into some kind of robot, and the third one you got me was for the concert at Madison Square Garden; it was given without me asking so you can't expect me to forfeit the chance to ask for another."

"You've already got two guitars, what do you need another one for?" He asked, pouring a small amount of pancake batter into the frying pan eliciting a hiss from the equipment. "Besides, you and your friends played at Madison only last year. That guitar is still new."

"Yeah," she coughed. "About that…"

"You broke it didn't you?"

She winced. "Define 'broke'?" Mr. Yamada sent her a warning look. "Stella," he began, but she cut him off, "Alright, but technically it's that jerk Ray's fault."

"Ray Beech?" Stella nodded and arched a brow. "How'd you know?"

Mr. Yamada shook his head. "His father owns practically half of Mesa. It's estimated that he's got more power than the mayor." Stella snorted as she took a sip of her father's mug of coffee. "Well he's son acts like he has more power than god."

The pancake on the pan was flipped over when Mr. Yamada asked, "So what exactly did Ray do to you guitar?"

She grumbled as she took a long drink of the remaining coffee. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she answered dryly, "You know Scott was in his band before Lemonade Mouth started right?" He nodded. "I'm aware of that yes."

"Well, Ray got a replacement guitarist to take over Scott's position. Ray and that little snot-rag challenged me in front of the whole school to a guitar battle."

"And you lost?" he took a guess, which earned him a glare. "Seriously dad, have more faith in me." Mr. Yamada chuckled. "I'm sorry dear, but I kind of figured that that was the case. You lose, you throw a tantrum and broken is your guitar."

"No way, I'm Lemonade Mouth's electric guitarist; I kick too much butt to lose to some wannabe."

"So what, did Ray take your guitar and smash it when he lost?"

"No, or else I'd be demanding a replacement from him and not you."

"So am I going to hear the rest of this story or," Stella interjected, watching her father place another pancake onto the plate, "Okay, okay, be patient would ya? The thing is; Ray was bluffing so hard during the entire competition that I played the hardest I ever played. My guitar pick was reduced to a toothpick and half of the strings snapped, though thankfully that was after I won."

"Technically it's still your fault." She glared. "Dad, whose side are you on?"

"The side that means my wallet doesn't get lighter," he answered, flipping the pancake on the pan this time. "Daddy," Stella wailed and began pouting again. "Please just spare me a couple of bucks, I don't have a guitar anymore and it's torture!"

"Why don't you just loan one from Scott?"

"He's too busy with handling Mo's dad; he's barely been to practice this past month. Not to mention he's still on the school soccer team."

"What about Mo? Doesn't she have a guitar that she can spare?"

"Her dad barely allowed her the first one," Stella replied, "besides, she plays base. Base and Electric are two totally different instruments." Mr. Yamada sighed. "Well then, I'm afraid you're going to have to go on without a guitar for at least another month."

"What? But dad -"

"Stella, right now we can't afford it. Your mother and I already paid our booking to Lava Springs for the summer and the boys' tour with your mother to the Philippines for her research on recycled products creating energy wasn't exactly free. Besides, I'm still holding you and your friends for the plane tickets to go to New York for that concert." She frowned in reply. "But I can't do gigs without a guitar!"

"Well didn't you get paid for those?" he inquired as he continued to stack pancakes on the plate. "And the Madison concert? I'm sure that you did."

"Yeah I did," Stella answered, crossing her arms in a huff. "But you and mom made me put it into an account for university. I don't have any money, and I need a guitar!"

"I know you do, but why don't you just get a part-time job to get the cash."

"What about school and band practice?"

"That's the beauty of part-time Stell," Mr. Yamada stated, "It's part-time, not all the time." She rolled her eyes and stabbed her fork into the pile of pancakes. "And band practice? What about that?"

"Obviously you won't be of use until you get a new guitar, so the sooner you find a part-time job the better it is for both you and your band." Stella stuffed a few more pancakes into her mouth, her thinking-face on while she chewed. Her father, knowing her silence, smiled and said smugly, "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yesh," she answered, quite a bit of pancakes still stuffed into her mouth.

"Good, then I suggest you get going. The more part-time's you can get your hands on the sooner you get your guitar. Besides, it's Friday and you don't have school right?"

"Uh huh, Principal Brenagin declared it a free day."

"That gives you until Sunday to get the money, that music store you like going to is having a half-price sale on Sunday so that's your best bet to buy a new instrument."

Stella swallowed the remaining pancakes and smiled. "Thanks dad!" She rushed behind the counter, gave him a swift kiss on the cheek and left the house to start her money-hunt. In her haste to get started, she didn't hear her father wail, "Where'd my pancakes go?"

xXx

To Stella

From Olivia

Hey! I got a great new idea for a song, do you want me to send you the lyrics?

xXx

To Olivia

From Stella

Sure, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks Liv!

xXx

By five o'clock on that Friday, Stella slumped onto a bench outside a grocery store, her head in her hands as she tried to calm the headache that was pounding through her skull.

Since she left home at nine-thirty, she'd been rushing everywhere and asking everyone for a job for her new guitar.

People were feeling quite nice that day and offered her an hour's pay for whatever task they had her to do. Unfortunately for Stella, most of the tasks were physically straining. It was nearing summer vacation, only a week or two away, so everyone wanted clean backyards and pools for seasonal barbeques. Some tasks were to clean windows or to walk dogs, those weren't the worst and after a while Stella was actually enjoying it, though that was probably because she couldn't think about her guitar…

The first couple of hours weren't so bad, but once she got around to Patty's house she was just about ready to throw herself off a skyscraper.

Patty…whatever her surname was, needed someone to act as a servant for the day. For an hour, Stella was to get Patty anything she desired. Stella retrieved dozens of glasses of orange juice in a coconut looking cup with a little umbrella while Patty tanned until she resembled a Cheeto. This of course wasn't as tiring as cleaning huge swimming pools and polishing someone's silverware, but having to serve Patty of all people made her physically ill.

So far she'd gotten enough money to cover at least a half of the expense of her new guitar (which was brand by the way…she was very picky when it came to her instrument).

But at least Friday had turned up a profit. Stella did wonder though what she was going to do to get the remaining cash. It felt like she helped all the nice people already, all the others would probably turn her away on the grounds that they wanted someone more experienced to work for them that, and the fact that teenagers aren't exactly the most reliable workers.

Stella figured that it was time to turn in for the day but as she stood; two women came out of the grocery store.

"Now really Evelyn, I must insist that you come and visit us in Albuquerque," the one said, her hair cut in a stylish bob and dressed smartly in a pink and white ensemble. The other woman, a red head with dazzling blue eyes, shook her head. "I'd love to Claire, but my son's sick at the moment and I can't bear to leave him alone."

"Why don't you just hire someone darling? Surely he'll be fine until summer when your family joins us."

Thinking quick, Stella approached them. "I'm sorry to bother, but I couldn't help overhearing…" The red head, the woman named Evelyn, smiled lightly at her. "Oh yes, I'm sorry about that. But sisters tend to talk quite loud when they haven't seen each other in such a while; I suppose it's the excitement." Stella, quickly realizing that she might have offended the lady quickly said, "I totally understand, but I'm actually interested in your little problem. You see, I'm kind of in need of…employment at the moment and I was wondering if maybe I could watch your son. I know I'm being forward here, but all the work I've gotten today was only for the hour and nothing was set permanently so…"

"May I ask where you got your credentials, if you have first aid training and if you know CPR?" The blonde named Claire asked her tone friendly yet commanding in her questions.

"Uhm, I don't actually have any…credentials of which you speak. I have 10th grade certificate if that's what you want, but I am only in my eleventh year so…"

"Oh no, its fine, I'm sorry," Evelyn quickly cut in. "But may I ask what you need the job for if you are still in school?" Both ladies' brows were raised in question and Stella could see the words: SATISFY DRUG ADDICTION written subtly on their foreheads.

"Well I'm in this band you see, it's called Lemonade Mouth," Stella began, "and the thing is, my guitar got damaged and I don't have another. My parents won't give me money (dad's a bloody traitor) so my dad suggested I get a few part-time jobs to get the cash. And I've been working the whole day, but I still don't have enough money for the guitar."

"Hmm," Claire leaned towards Stella, looking her in the eye with a sharp steely blue eyed glare. After about three seconds, she pulled away with a cheery smile and said, "See Evelyn, now you can come visit me in Albuquerque just as we planned before your son got sick."

Evelyn looked thoughtful. "Well I suppose…I mean, I do just need someone to watch over him, give him medicine and make sure that he's comfortable. I'm quite sure he'll be fine in less than a couple of days…"

Stella waited eagerly, and after another moment of contemplation, Evelyn nodded. "Yes alright, I think I can agree to this. Would you mind much to come home with me so that you can meet him? I'll be flying out tomorrow morning so I need to make sure you two are acquainted, you are Miss…"

"Yamada, Stella Yamada. But just call me Stella and you are?"

"This is my sister Claire, and I'm Evelyn Beech."

Stella could honestly say that she made no connection at the time. That was of course until she was standing at the foot of Ray Beech's bed.

To be continued

So yeah…first chapter…done and done.

Tell me what you think and send me your thoughts via review:)

Thanks for reading!

Lavender